After Vice President for Student Affairs A. Ramona Brown welcomed the honored students and their friends and families, and Honoree Samantha Frank sang the National Anthem, Interim President Dr. William J. Fritz offered the day’s greetings.

In his remarks, Dr. Fritz asked the honors graduates to recognize “your family, friends, and other loved ones here today” for providing the students with “invaluable support in coping with the many personal demands and challenges you faced. And our outstanding faculty and staff have taught, mentored, assisted, and inspired you to reach the heights of excellence that we honor here tonight.”

Dr. Fritz also quoted last year’s Salutatorian, Daniel Feldman, who referred to a term coined by Pauline and Suzanne Imes in 1978 called the Imposter Syndrome, a phenomenon in which people are unable to believe that they deserve the success they achieve. “Dan went on to explain that many successful people suffer from this syndrome, many of them most likely in attendance at the Honors Convocation, but” President Fritz concluded, “they should all be viewing the awards ceremony as ‘proof that you are not an imposter…your attendance here is a testament to your success.”

Christina Terracino, the 2013 CSI Salutatorian and graduate of The Verrazano School Honors Program, then discussed the growth that she has experienced at CSI, referencing the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë’s “journey of maturation, self-discovery, and increasing confidence.” During her address, she spoke about how “English literature has always been my passion and I discovered that, early on in my college career it helped me understand multiple perspectives, a skill that is truly remarkable.” She also encouraged her fellow honors recipients to “follow your own path” and “I am confidant you will all reach the aims you are reaching for.”

Vice President Brown then presented the Student Dolphin Award to Elizabeth Che, who also received the Student Government Service Award and whose first-place award at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference was highlighted in a previous CSI Today article.

Following the ceremony, the honored students, their families and friends, faculty, and staff attended a dessert reception in the Center for the Arts Atrium where they were able to celebrate their accomplishments at CSI but also continued to look forward to the bright futures that lay ahead.

The College’s Sixth Annual Honors Convocation was held at the Center for the Arts Springer Concert Hall on May 28, 2013.